It’s well documented here that I revere food. It’s also been alleged that I luxuriate in watering holes. Assuming the latter has not been proven to be #fakenews, it would behoove me to also savor bar food. Fortunately, I do.
Chase’s Grille & Wingery in downtown Norcross sets the bar (so to speak) when it comes to foodstuffs. But others generate quality food, some with better drink menus than the foregoing standard-bearer. Sit back and grab a cold one, because I’m about to tell you about two more of uOTPia’s finest options for pub grub.
I’ve had Pub 10 in Peachtree Corners on my bucket list. In fact, when I penned my provocative article about the flourishing dining landscape in said town, the most common comment was that I was remiss in excluding them.
I thought I went with the wife and daughter a couple of months ago, but dopey me took them to their sister restaurant Ten Bistro instead. Doh. It could happen to anyone. The more casual pub is the more proclaimed of the “Ten” companion establishments and it should be. My two youngest were wooed when I told them Pub 10 serves mac and cheese on a burger. They approved of both the idea and the finished product.
I sampled my son’s green beans. They were mixed with garlic and sea salt. I mean they’re green beans, but surprisingly very good and definitely fresh. My daughter loves bratwurst and in fact refers to it as “bratbest.” That happened to be the selection of the day on their rotating sausage list. Thus far, daughter and I agree that our two favorites have been Mitch’s Meats house made and Patak’s. I didn’t push the issue of its manufacturer when the waitress told me it was not made in-house, but both Daddy’s Lil Gal and I were very impressed.
Quality traditional burgers are commonplace. Hence, unless an unimpeachable source assures me that is the go-to blue ribbon pick at a specific establishment, it is not among my initial options in my early exploratory trips anywhere. Non-traditional burgers, on the other hand do intrigue me. I was not sheepish about giving their lamb burger a whirl.
Moxie Burger does a very praiseworthy one. Another local eating-house does an okay one. P10 has a gourmet-sized patty, referred to a banh mi. Truthfully the only similarity to the Vietnamese delicacy is the toppings, but by any name, it is good.
It was served with a side growing in popularity in these parts: Mexican street corn. First bite indicates it is high on my list of bar food shops. It was more than good enough to have me wanting to try the fish and chips as well as the wings that are smoked, baked, and then fried. Pub 10 is located across the street from the Forum, right behind Noble Fin.
Oh gosh darn, the website is horrible. It looks like a kid got out a box of crayons and scribbled it together in like 15 minutes.
But I’m not done eating pub food. The Grub Gastropub in the old Roswell Tap location was just waiting for my exploration. I was familiar with chef/owner Dave Fast’s work at Phish Phood. While PP wasn’t my all-time most-missed restaurant, it was very favorable and certainly good enough that I needed to get around to checking out his new gig. I gave Chef a tough act to follow. Just two weeks ago, I had one of my fave mussels’ appetizers ever at Avalon’s MF Bar. The Grub does his Prince Edward shellfish with an excellent merging of flavors with a cream broth with sun-dried tomatoes, white beans, and smoked bacon.
That’s why I’m a fat guy who eats a lot and not a chef. Not sure I would have known those ingredients mesh, but they do quite well in fact. I followed it up with a sandwich Hoffs Revival. I had the pleasure of dining with now-retired talented food critic Joan Durbin and her significant other at Phish Phood. Fast explained to us that is was named after his beloved David Hasselhoff—something about beefy but a little cheesy too. Anyway, if a cheesesteak and French dip mated, this would be their lovechild. Chef may have had a “fast” (get it?) hand on the salt, but still a very good sandwich.
That’s the gastro first impression. Now the pub. They had 15-20 of mostly in-state craft brews on tap including the great Tropicalia and also a Variant selection from just around the block. Sure, in bottles and cans they had some of the big box national brands with Bud and stuff in their name, but also some good crafts headlined by Bell’s Two-Hearted.
Wine is not my expertise, but the list was not a short one. Oh, brown liquor? Knob Creek and most importantly, Woodford Reserve among a dozen or so.
At the end of the day, is this the latest destination place? No. But just wait one damn minute sister. It’s a casual bar food place. And in that vein, yes Chase’s is the mac daddy of bar food. But the Grub has a better drink menu. So, to drink good beer, bourbon, probably wine, and to get definitely better-than-average food, we have a winner.
The author, Joe Duffy hasn’t had a real job since college. However, when not eating, he is CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com, home of the best sports picks and vetted online sportsbooks. Support his wife’s DuffyGifts.com the place to go for gifts for all occasions from MyThirtyOne Gifts. It’s the only way he can eat.
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